Short Formative Assessment Improves Student Achievement

In case you’ve missed it, numerous studies have shown that short, frequent formative assessment (like Exit Tickets) is one of the most powerful ways any teacher can improve student performance.

According to Robert Marzano, a leading K-12 education researcher, “To the surprise of some educators, major reviews of the research on the effects of classroom assessment indicate that it might be one of the most powerful weapons in a teacher’s arsenal.”

In my opinion, this isn’t actually a surprise to most educators. Rather, the amount of time it takes to actually do formative assessments every day – even very short ones of 3-5 multiple-choice questions – is prohibitive. Frequent formative assessment costs so much time and aggravation, there just isn’t enough time in a day.

Clever use of technology can make short frequent formative assessment possible, by making it fast. I also know one teacher who has her students grade each other’s stuff (though this is perhaps better for longer assessments, since an Exit Ticket or similar daily assessment can’t be bogged down by logistics).

Of course when it comes to technology, it has to be super-stable and impervious to bad wi-fi or Internet, lost/forgotten/broken devices, and other glitches. That might be a tall order, but it’s exactly what you get with Quick Key.